The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently issued a recall for the following items:

-Play Wonder toy sundae sets due to a choking hazard

-Battat Magnabild magnetic building toys or sets due to aspiration and intestinal hazards

-Ellaroo Ring Sling baby carriers due to a breakage and fall hazard

-X Force Commander toy airplanes and Super Famous toy cars and motorcycles due to a lead paint hazard

-Micros boys' hooded jackets due to a strangulation hazard

eBay takes recalled items very seriously, and we work closely with the Consumer Product Safety Commission on these issues. We encourage buyers and sellers to visit http://www.cpsc.gov (see the Recent Recalls section) for more details about the products and model numbers included in this recall. You may also wish to visit our Recalled Items policy at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/recalled.html.

For Sellers: Please check your product model numbers and refrain from listing any items that are part of this recall. Any currently listed items that are included in the recall should be ended.

For Buyers: If you believe an item you are interested in bidding on or purchasing may be part of this recall, we encourage you to use the Ask Seller a Question feature to verify.

As a service to our Community, eBay announces some product recalls, like these, when we believe the marketplace will be impacted. To stay informed about all CPSC recalls, please bookmark www.cpsc.gov and sign up to receive notices on new recalls issued by the CPSC.

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***eBay’s New and Improved Checkout***

March 13, 2008 | 03:17PM PST/PT

Hi everyone…This is Vamsee Nalamothu from our Buyer Experience team on eBay. My team and I are excited to let you know about the launch of a new version of eBay Checkout that has been in testing for several weeks. When buyers pay for an item they’ve purchased or won, eBay Checkout takes them through the steps necessary to pick their payment method, select or add their shipping address, and do the other steps necessary to confirm payment for the seller.

Our new, improved Checkout makes this process faster and easier, so buyers can quickly pay for items they have won – and sellers can receive faster payments. Some of the highlights include:

-A selectable progress meter -- so buyers can gauge where they are in the process -Simplified editing of information -- including shipping address and shipping carriers -Improved coupon, gift certificate and gift card redemption -Automatic default to multi-seller checkout -- so buyers can go through Checkout once to pay for multiple items from multiple sellers -Improved merchandising of seller inventory post-payment – so sellers have an even better opportunity to sell more items during the Checkout process.

eBay Checkout also reduces the need for back-and-forth communication between buyers and sellers, because all shipping enhancements like Shipping discounts are captured during the process. This makes it easier for buyers to pay, and should result in fewer unpaid items and faster payments to our sellers.

eBay Checkout has been customized to meet the specific needs of many of our international markets, too. (The new Checkout will not be available in China, Germany or India.)

Launch plans
The new Checkout is being expanded to more of the marketplace over the next several weeks. You may begin to experience the new Checkout and payment flow, and once you see it, it will be your new default except in cases where sellers use a third-party listing provider.